To Glasto or No?

That is the question. I always get pangs of longing for the Somerset levels and the wonderful feeling of being central to the universe for a few days in late June (almost) every year. I have played Glastonbury probably about 15 times over the years, starting in 1983 and the acoustic stage. The 1990s saw some experimental offerings amongst the Green Fields, where armed with a mini disc player, tablas and random musicians we used to play pop up gigs across the festival. Obviously we sometimes jumped or burrowed under the fence. I remember paying £10 for a hand stamp on year. Late 1990s it rained lots, tents floating off, mud up to the waist in the Greenpeace tent. 1999 was crazy and great, but very dangerous with people camping up in the trees. I served purple haze scrambled eggs in the teepee field. Over the 2000s I joined Mo funk, Orchestra Montpelier and Baila la Cumbia. Playing for the opening event with Michael (Eavis) and the litter pickers; being the sound check band for the jazz/world stage; playing so many gigs so you could get all 12 of your band members in.

I’m getting the usual pangs as 50 miles up the road the Glasto experience is happening. Should i try and get in for Elton and his last ever performance. Bump into old friends. Let me know if anyone reading this has a spare couple of tickets. You forget that it is not always great, that sometimes you might even feel lonely, or tired of trudging around the piss stinking fields. But you are central to everything. The band lineup seems unusually average this year, but it was never about the bug groups. It was about discovering new things, reaffirming old ideas, being an activist, going feral, dropping out, solidifying friendships and making new ones. I guess you could call this the blues..